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A councillor wants Edwardsburgh/Cardinal Township to change the zoning of the ED-19 landfill site to prohibit its use as a dump.

Councillor Michael Barrett said the township’s official plan should be amended to have the site revert to a simple agriculture zoning.

Alternatively, the township could limit the size of the landfill to prevent a “mega-dump” that is feared by many residents, he said.

Now the land is designated as agriculture with a site-zoning for a landfill site.

The land was rezoned to permit the dump 20 years ago when the provincial environment ministry granted a certificate of approval for ED-19 after studies and public hearings in the 1990s. The core of the site – 35 acres – would be for the dump itself while the rest of the land acts as a buffer. The zoning has remained the same through three official plan reviews.

Barrett gave notice to council that his motion will be presented at a township council meeting in October.

The councillor concedes that a review of the township’s official plan is not an easy or quick process. The review, which Barrett says is overdue, must follow a strict regulatory process that involves many public hearings, consultations and studies.

Barrett said the hearings would give the public a chance to say why developing the landfill based on 20-year-old environmental approvals is a bad idea.

If the idea of a landfill does not “meet the vision and aspirations of the community,” then the township could change the zoning, or at least limit ED-19’s footprint, he said.

Mayor Pat Sayeau indicated that Barrett’s motion might very well be passed by the township but he warned that the final decision on the official plan is out of the township’s hands.

The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, which owns the ED-19 site, must approve official plan amendments and the highest level of government always prevails, Sayeau said.

Counties council voted this month to reopen negotiations with Tomlinson Environmental for the sale of ED-19 despite objections from residents and the council of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal, which has declared itself an “unwilling host.”

Barrett conceded that the counties might quash any zoning changes, but he said that the township should not try to presuppose the counties’ response.

“Perhaps the counties might be amenable to shrinking the size of the area zoned for landfill use,” he said. “That could potentially put to rest the threat of a mega-dump.”

Sayeau, who along with two other counties’ mayors opposed reopening the talks, said the other counties mayors seem to want to proceed with the sale “fairly expeditiously.”

That marks a decided shift in the mayors’ attitude toward ED-19. After a public meeting in Spencerville last February in which hundreds of residents angrily opposed sale of the dump, counties council adopted a “go-slow” approach to ED-19. It suspended talks with Tomlinson, formed a waste management committee to look at long-term landfill needs and voted to hire environmental experts to determine whether or not the 19-year-old certificate of approval would still be valid.

But the mood of counties council changed following an in-camera meeting with its lawyers on Aug. 9, Sayeau indicated.

The majority of mayors seem resolved to proceed with the sale. Sayeau said the counties council decided to not proceed with the new environmental assessment of ED-19, and that the waste management study appears to be on the back burner.

Sayeau told his council and residents in the audience that he is unlikely to be part of the talks for the sale of ED-19 because he opposes the negotiations.

So even if the negotiating team includes county council members, he wouldn’t be chosen as one of them, Sayeau said.

“You can’t suck and blow at the same time,” he said. “There’s not a chance that they are going to take me.”

Kyle Johnston, spokesman for Citizens Against the Dump, said the intervention by the Mohawks is a significant development.

The government’s duty to consult First Nations is one of the many things that have changed since ED-19 was approved 20 years ago, he said. This underscores CAD’s contention that the 1998 certificate of approval is invalid because of its age, he said.

Johnston said the Mohawks’ objection will be added to CAD’s arsenal of arguments in its application to the environment ministry to review the 20-year-old certificate of approval. He said his group hopes to file the application soon, and it will ask the ministry to freeze the negotiations until it can rule.

Johnston said CAD is also considering other legal sorties, including applying for an injunction against the sale.

Sayeau said the counties is determined to strike a deal that puts the entire risk on Tomlinson so if the province later refused to allow ED-19, the taxpayers would not be on the hook.